THUAS joins European Deep-Tech project

We are doing this as part of SFF DEEP CONNECT, a European project selected under the Higher Education Initiative (HEI), with support from the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT).

Through the Centre of Expertise Mission Zero and the Designing Value Networks (DVN) research group, THUAS is working with ten organisations from ten European countries to strengthen the connections between higher education, research and industry.

Liliya Terzieva (DVN lecturer and Director of Mission Zero) sees a clear need for this: “Europe has a tremendous wealth of scientific knowledge and research talent. The challenge is to ensure that promising ideas and discoveries are actually translated into innovations, startups and solutions to societal and economic challenges.”

Learning by doing, across borders

Education and students play an important role within SFF DEEP CONNECT. Heleen Geerts (Center for Entrepreneurs, DVN researcher and Coordinator of the Learning Community at The Hague Living Labs) explains that THUAS contributes its expertise in practice-oriented and interdisciplinary education to help connect research, entrepreneurship and external partners. “Students will have more opportunities to collaborate and discover how they can contribute to major societal challenges through innovation and entrepreneurship.”

Through innovation programmes, international collaborations, challenges, living labs and startup support, students can connect their ideas with researchers, entrepreneurs and companies from across Europe. The goal is to train more than 4,500 participants, support more than 30 startups, and contribute to the creation of 10 new deep-tech ventures.

From sustainability to European innovation capacity

For Mission Zero, the project directly supports its ambition to educate students to become changemakers who contribute to a sustainable future. “SFF DEEP CONNECT strengthens this ambition by creating new opportunities to develop an entrepreneurial mindset and the collaborative skills needed to turn ideas into action,” Liliya explains.

The focus is not only on technological innovation, but also, and especially, on its societal impact. Assia Kraan (researcher and programme manager at DVN) sums up the ambition for THUAS: “You can think of SFF DEEP CONNECT as Europe’s innovation playground, where students and researchers from THUAS can transform ideas into impact through entrepreneurship and deep-tech development.”